


Amusement Shark Rides

by amathela



Category: Wizards of Waverly Place
Genre: Amusement Parks, F/F, Friendship, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-14
Updated: 2011-01-14
Packaged: 2017-11-16 16:06:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amathela/pseuds/amathela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex tries not to use magic.  And fails.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amusement Shark Rides

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers up to episode _4:3 - Lucky Charmed._

It takes them the better part of an hour to decorate the loft, and they still only end up with a sad collection of half-inflated balloons and a couple of haphazardly strung streamers. Well, at least on Alex's side. Harper's looks a lot better, but that just pretty much makes the entire thing look worse.

See, this is what happens when you don't use magic to do stuff.

"What's all this for?" her dad asks when they get home. Max heads straight for one of the streamers, apparently trying to decide if it's edible.

(It's not, and he spits it out. Her brother, the future family wizard. They should all be so proud.)

"Harper passed her driver's test."

"Really?" he asks. "Harper, that's great. Maybe you take us all out sometime."

"Yeah, you don't want to do that," Alex says. Harper shoots a look at her like she's hurt, but, what? She was only telling the truth. She thought Harper would be proud.

"And I'm making dinner for everyone to celebrate," Harper announces, which makes her dad instantly perk up. "Alex, why don't you come help me?"

And his face falls again. Which would be funny, except for the whole part where she's apparently supposed to cook stuff now, and that really isn't going to end well.

Still, Harper's got her determined expression on, and Alex knows better than to argue when she gets like that. Even if last time it ended up with her having to clean all the school's trash cans.

(She makes a mental note to start dumping her trash in Max's locker, just in case it happens again. Besides, it's not like he'll notice.)

"Fine," she says, and follows Harper into the kitchen. "What do I have to do?"

"We'll start you off easy," Harper says. "Just hand me the ladle."

"Max!" Alex yells, into the living room. "Ladle!"

He's really getting better at that, but Harper rolls her eyes.

"Never mind," she says. "How about a rolling pin?"

"Is that, like, one of those things you find in haystacks?"

Okay. So, no.

"I could turn on the oven."

"Great," Harper says. A little too enthusiastically, like, _hey,_ Alex is totally capable of doing stuff. Just ... not stuff in the kitchen. This one is easy, though - she totally knows the spell for this.

And then Harper frowns, and oh, yeah. No magic.

This really sucks.

"Never mind," Harper says. "I'll do that, too. Why don't you just stand over there and watch?"

Do nothing? Finally. That, she can do.

-

Alex doesn't really want to admit it, because this quitting thing was her idea and everything, but not using magic? Kind of sucks.

Like, it takes her half an hour to get ready in the morning, and she's still got shampoo residue in her hair and her clothes are rumpled and she hasn't even eaten breakfast. Plus, she's half an hour late to school.

So, okay, it doesn't entirely suck.

Harper practically runs all the way there, shooting dirty looks over her shoulder at Alex, which is totally not her fault. She told Harper she didn't have to wait around, but Harper insisted, like Alex wasn't going to go to school at all if Harper wasn't there to make her. Which is probably fair. Still, it's not like they get in trouble or anything; nobody's even in class yet, just standing around out the front, and Alex quickly slips into the crowd before Mr Laritate can spot her.

"What's going on, anyway?" she asks, and Harper smacks herself on the forehead.

"Of course," she says. "Today's the field trip."

Alex stares at her. "What field trip?"

"The field trip to Coney Island. Remember?"

"But I'm not allowed to go to Coney Island," Alex says. "Oh, wait! I know, I'll just make myself look like someone else, and that way -"

She breaks off when she realises Harper is staring at her. Glaring, really, and Alex sighs, stuffing her wand back into her boot. It would be easier not to do magic, maybe, if she just left it at home, but she's definitely not ready for that yet.

"Fine," she says. "I'll just try to sneak in when nobody is watching."

Harper smiles. Kind of. "Better," she says, but she doesn't sound quite convinced.

-

"You know," Alex says, once they're finally off the bus, "if you'd just let me use magic, I could have flashed us here."

"That wasn't an important use of magic," Harper says. "Besides, the bus was fine."

"Yeah," Alex says, not in agreement. "You've still got an apple core in your hair."

Harper squeaks a little and jumps in circles trying to get it out, and Alex tries really, really hard not to laugh. She even mostly succeeds. Finally, Harper fishes it out with a muttered, "Damn freshmen."

And that? Is just embarrassing. Besides, Harper's outfit today is pretty understated, for her - sure, she's dressed like a library, but the little dictionary earrings are even kind of cute - so she really doesn't know what their problem is.

Harper seems to be thinking the same thing.

"I can't believe I forgot the field trip was today," she says. "I could have worn my ferris wheel outfit."

"Yeah," Alex says. "That's a real pity. You know, I could just flash us back home and -"

"No," Harper says, but reluctantly. "It's okay. I want to prove to you that you don't need to use magic."

"I know I don't need to use magic," Alex says. "It's just fun."

"Well," Harper says, "so is Coney Island. So enjoy it, because you probably won't be back here for a while."

Isn't that the truth.

Sneaking in isn't a huge problem, even without magic; there are enough people rushing around that it's easy enough to take Harper's hand, squeeze through the crush of people, and quickly duck behind the barrier when the guy taking tickets is looking the other way. Harper kind of frowns, like she doesn't approve of not paying or whatever, but Alex ignores her. She can't not use magic and start paying for stuff all in the same day.

Besides, having to sneak in has its perks. Like separating them from the rest of the class.

"So," she says. "Where should we start? Ooh, I know! Let's get slushies and throw them at people."

"Alex, we can't do that."

"Oh, you're right. It's pretty hot today, they'd probably just melt. But it's okay, we can use soda instead. Besides, that's way cheaper. Hey, maybe some ice will even hit somebody in the eye."

And there's the glare again. Ugh, she's as bad as Justin.

"You could hurt somebody," Harper points out, which, yeah, is kind of the point. "You can't just do whatever you want, Alex."

Okay, now she's confused. "But we're on an island."

"That doesn't mean - oh, never mind, let's just go on the ferris wheel."

"Fine," Alex says. "But only if I can get popcorn and throw it at people from really high up."

Harper sighs, but she doesn't say no, so Alex is counting it as a win.

It's less fun when they have to buy tickets - she could just magic some, she almost explains to Harper, except she doesn't really think it would do any good - but at least she has her popcorn, and she's been working on her aim, so.

This is going to be great. Even without magic.

(Although, seriously. What's more fun than magical popcorn that explodes when it hits people? _Nothing._ )

"See?" Harper asks, once they're almost at the top and Alex has just spotted someone she thinks would make a great first target. Honestly, what kind of person over the age of four carries around a balloon? It's like they're asking to be pelted with stuff. "A day without magic isn't so bad, after all."

Which is, predictably, when the ride decides to break down.

"Oh, no," Harper says. "Not again. I knew we shouldn't have gone on the ferris wheel."

"But it was your idea," Alex says, and Harper turns on her. Okay, so, shutting up now.

"It's okay," Harper says, but almost like she's talking to herself. "Just don't panic. They'll get us out of here."

"Sure," she says. "We'll just stay up here for a few hours. Because that's fun."

Not quite a glare this time, but it's close.

"Or," she says, drawing her wand out of her boot, "I could get us out of here right now."

Harper hesitates, like she's trying to decide between letting Alex use magic and being stuck here all day.

And then it starts to rain.

"Fine," Harper says. "But only because it's an emergency."

"We're stuck up here so get us down, hurry quick before we drown."

There's a flash, and suddenly they're standing on the ground again. Except that what was a light drizzle is suddenly, like, a torrential downpour, so heavy Alex almost can't see Harper, even though she's standing right in front of her.

And frowning, probably.

"This wasn't my fault," she says, and then relents. Because, hey, who is she kidding? "Okay, so, maybe that wasn't the best spell to use. But I can fix it."

"Alex, don't -"

Alex pretends that the rain means she can't hear Harper, either.

"Rain, rain, go away -"

Before she can finish, Harper snatches the wand out of her hand, and Alex steps closer, reaching for it.

"You don't need to use magic for this," Harper says, even as she relents and gives the wand back. "It's just a little rain."

And thunder. And lightning. And - is it raining fish?

"Okay," Harper says. Yep, definitely a fish. "You can use magic now."

Finally.

"Something in my spell went wrong, put this back where it belongs."

The rain disappears.

So do they.

"Alex," Harper says, and Alex blinks. Wow, that's so cool. She can't help thinking about Max - he's going to die when he finds out he missed out on having gills. "Tell me we're not underwater."

"We're not underwater?" Alex tries. It doesn't come out very convincingly, especially not when an octopus floats past them.

"Alex!"

"Sorry," she says. "It's been a while since I used magic, I'm just a little rusty."

"It's been one day," Harper says. "And you've used magic three times since then."

Well, whatever. It's the thought that counts, right?

"Just, please get us out of here," Harper says. "Before a -"

Shark.

So, now would probably be good.

"No more water, no more shark, get us back to the amusement park."

And they're on top of the ferris wheel again. Great.

"Ta da," she tries weakly, and at Harper's withering look, "What? I helped us, right?"

"How does this help us?" Harper demands, gesturing around them. Okay, so, they're stuck on the ferris wheel again, and this time they're soaking wet, but at least they haven't been eaten by a shark, right?

"It's okay," she says. "I'll just get us down. Without rain, this time."

"No," Harper yells, and grabs for Alex's wand. "I'm confiscating this. I don't care if we have to stay up here all day, I'm not letting you use magic again."

Which is totally unfair. Alex is pretty sure all of this is only, like, half her fault, tops.

Or maybe three-quarters. Whatever. That shark has to take some of the blame, too.

"Harper," she says. Or maybe more like whines, but it's windy up here, okay, and her shirt is sticking to her skin, and she's _cold._ "I'm sorry, just please let me get us down from here?"

Harper looks like she's about to relent, and Alex can already feel her starting to give in. And then she glances over at the water - where it should be, this time - and shakes her head.

"Sorry," she says. "I've made my decision. You're just going to have to suffer the consequences of using magic."

"You're suffering, too," Alex points out.

Harper shrugs, but she looks just as cold as Alex feels.

"At least let me dry us off. There's no reason we have to be stuck _and_ wet."

She's pretty sure Harper almost gives in. Damn it, why does she have to be so stubborn?

And then -

"What are you doing?" Alex asks, scooting as far away as she can in the small seat.

"Cuddling for warmth," Harper explains.

"Why?"

Harper rolls her eyes. "Because we're cold and wet and stuck up here, and I thought it might help?"

Alex wants to point out that all those things are only true because Harper won't let her use magic, but - well, okay, maybe this whole cuddling thing isn't exactly terrible. And Harper's book soaked up most of the water, so she isn't quite as wet as Alex is, and besides, she's pretty warm, up close.

So, whatever. It's better than freezing to death alone.

"This is nice," Harper says after a little while.

"What part?" Alex asks. "The part where we're still all wet, or the part where I'm pretty sure we're going to die up here?"

But, okay. Other than that. It's pretty nice.

Not that Alex likes cuddling or anything. But if she's going to cuddle anyone, it might as well be Harper.

And then, just as she's actually starting to enjoy it, the ferris wheel starts moving again.

"Damn it," Alex says, and then, at Harper's questioning look, "I mean, yay. We're moving."

Which is a good thing. At least they're not going to be stuck any more.

She spots Mr Laritate just as they're scrambling off the ride, and hurriedly pulls Harper around the corner. It's not like they've done anything wrong, exactly - well, except for sneaking into the park and then running off, and the fact that they're both still pretty damp for some unexplainable reason - but, well, it's better to be safe than sorry, at least when it comes to getting busted, and she really doesn't want to have to spend another whole afternoon cleaning Mr Laritate's office or the school bathroom or something. Gross.

"What was that for?" Harper asks, but she doesn't pull away, so.

Alex shrugs. "Nothing. Hey, corn dogs! I'm starving, want one?"

Harper looks a little suspicious, still - to be fair, Alex is acting pretty suspicious - but she nods. "Definitely. And a soda."

She considers that for a second.

"Which we aren't going to throw at anyone."

"Spoilsport," Alex mutters, but she gets them two corn dogs and two sodas, anyway. Now that they're down, it's getting pretty warm again, so it might actually be nice to have a drink that she doesn't throw at people.

Which gives her a great idea.

"Want to play some of those game things?" she asks around a mouthful of corn dog.

"Sure," Harper says. And then, "Wait, you aren't going to throw the balls at people instead of cans, are you?"

Seriously, what is it about being on an island that Harper just does not get? Besides, she was planning on using darts - much pointier.

"Anyway," Harper continues, "we should probably find the rest of the class. They're probably going to be leaving soon."

"No," Alex says, grabbing her hand, and then, a little less urgently, "I mean, let's just stay here for a while. Just the two of us."

Which is enough to make Harper relent. Alex really loves her, sometimes.

(Some times more than others.)

She doesn't let go of Alex's hand, either, not even to finish eating. Now that it's stopped raining and they're not a hundred feet off the ground or underwater and there are no sharks anywhere, it's actually a pretty good day. Even without magic.

So, maybe she's a little swept up in the moment or whatever when she kisses Harper. Just a little.

It's nice. And neither of them faint, so that's probably a good sign.

"Maybe we should get back," she says, then, and she can't even believe those words are coming out of her mouth. But there they are.

But Harper just smiles, and squeezes Alex's hand a little tighter. "That's okay. I'm sure we've still got time."

(They don't, and Alex ends up having to flash them home. But it's okay. Even with sharks, it was still a pretty good day.)


End file.
